Can treating apparatus

ABSTRACT

The application discloses an apparatus in which newly manufactured empty cans are prepared for filling with foodstuffs or beverages. The cans are sequentially washed, rinsed, treated, again rinsed, and finally dried, and if desired, subsequently coated and cured. The cans are individually transported through the apparatus by means of carriers which move them in a spiral path, while they are loosely retained in said carriers. A series of spray nozzles discharge against the cylindrical surfaces of the can, and the carriers are arranged to eliminate buff bodies and vortices at the back surfaces of the can. Uniform action of the sprayed material on the can bodies is further enhanced by providing negative pressure at the discharge from the carriers. Another series of spray nozzles discharge upwardly into the interior of the can body to treat the inner surfaces thereof, and to slightly lift the can bodies so they are free to rotate by virtue of contact with a rail member while being advanced at right angles to their axes.

United States Patent 11 1 Stolle Dec. 4, 1973 CAN TREATING APPARATUSInventor: Ralph J. Stolle, Lebanon,Ohio

The Stolle Corporation, Sidney, Ohio Filed: July 31, 1972 Appl. No.:276,393

Assignee:

[52] US. Cl '118/62, 34/10, 118/73,

Int. Cl B05c 1l/14, B050 7/02, B05c ll/16 Field of Search 118/318, 322,62, 118/314, 315, 326, 73; 134/131, 170,125, 126, 152, 72, 61; 432/124;34/10, 57 A, 57

[56] References Cited UNITED. STATES PATENTS 10/1953 l-lerold....134/170 X 6/1962 Hicks et al 1 18/62 X 5/1972 Minbiole et al 134/61Primary Examiner.lohn P. McIntosh Att0meyJohn W. Melville et al.

[57] ABSTRACT of the can. Uniform action of the sprayed material on thecan bodies is further enhanced by providing negative pressure at thedischarge from the carriers. Another series of spray nozzles dischargeupwardly into the interior of the can body to treat the inner surfacesthereof, and to slightly lift the can bodies so they are free to rotateby virtue of contact with a rail member while being advanced at rightangles to their axes.

8 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures BRIEF SUMMARY OF THEINVENTI ON When newlyformed cans come off the production line, they are open-ended so thatthey may be filled, after which a can end is applied to the open end andsealed thereto. Before such cans can be filled, they must be thoroughlycleaned and coated to remove contaminants resulting from themanufacturing operations. Thorough cleaning has always presented aproblem; and probably the best solution hitherto has been the apparatusdisclosed and claimed in the Stolle andKaminski US. Pat., No. 3,353,515issued Nov. 21, 1967. The machine of said patent did acommendable. jobin treating cans; but it was quite large and therefore took up a greatdeal of floor space, and it was quiteexpensive in relation to thenumberof cans treated per minute;

The present invention provides a substantially smaller machine, which isalso much less-expensive, but which gives all the advantageous resultsof the patented apparatus for a greater number of cans per minute.

Basically the apparatus comprises a spiral tube or enclosure throughwhichlhe cans to be treated pass. In this context the term spiral isintended to encompass a series of straight legs at an angle to thehorizontal, as well as a true spiral. An endless cable isarranged'totravel through the said spiral tube, and'a number of can carriers aresecured to the cable. The cans are transported through the apparatus bysaid carriers, past a series of spray nozzles which, in some sections ofthe apparatus spray a washing medium, in others rinse water, in othersatreating or coating substance, and in others hot air. I Each carrier isgenerally a half-cylinder, of an inside diameter substantially largerthan that of the cans to be treated, so as to provide for the passage ofthe treat! ment fluidaround both sides of the can, and; thence throughan exhaust opening substantially atithe center of the semi-cylindricalcarrier. The fluid is exhausted into a return duct in which 'a negativepressure is main-' tained in order to enhance the flow of treatmentvfluid around the can. In this way, vortices and buff bodies areavoidedand thorough and uniform treatment is provided.

The uniformity of the treatment is enhanced by the.

series of spray nozzles which are arranged to spray treatment fluid onthe inside of the cans. Byvirtue of cycle, about half of the second turnconstituting'a rinse cycle, the other halfconstituting a treatmentcycle, part of the final half turn being another rinse cycle, andithevlast, section being the drying cycle.

OF. THE DRAWING FIGS. 1 to.6 inclusive arediagrams which-willbe helpfulin understanding the invention.

FIG. v7 is. adiagrammatic plan viewof the can'carrier.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic vertical cross sectional view of the same.

FIG. 9 is a somewhat diagrammatical elevational view of an apparatusaccording to the invention.

FIG. 10 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view thereof. g

FIG. 11 is a detailedview in cross section taken on the. line 1I ll ofFIG'J9; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary plan view showing a carrier in relation to theconveyor cable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The principal problem in an apparatus for treatingcans is to 'insure a uniformand complete'exposure of all-surfaces of thecan to the treating fluid. By way of introduction, reference is made toFIGS. 1 to 6 which In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a cylinder at rest ina moving air stream. If the air stream or fluid flow within a:tube issteady and the pressureis in balance, a cylindrical object placed inthis flow will find acenter and balanced condition in the tube as shownin FIG. 1. The velocity and pressure between the walls in the cylinderwillberequal on both sides. Any outside force tending to move thecylinder toward one wall will create an imbalance both in velocity andpressure. Removal of the outside force will again let the pressure andvelocity become balanced and the cylinder will move to the center of theair stream.

In FIG. 2 the diagram shows laminar flow and stream line around acylindrical object. The stream lines around the objecfwil-l :follow abalanced pattern until they reach a stagnation point at which time theflow passes by the cylinder-and creates a low pressure wake containingbuff bodies and vortices. This'condition is similar to that in which anozzle moving a cleaning fluid toward 'a can body at a known velocityproduces the buff bodies and vortices. Under these conditions, the sideof the can opposite the flow is in the low pressure wake anddoes notreceive the full benefit of the cleaning solution.

FIG. 3.shows the normal balance condition of stream lines around. astream line object and the elimination of the low pressure wake. In thecircumstances of FIG. 3, all. surfaces of the body which is stream linedare subject touniform scrubbing and action by the flow. This showing thefluid flow, according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERALVIEWS" is the action which must besimulated on a cylindrical can body.

FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates how a selfcentering condition may becreated where the pressure and velocity are in balance on all-sides of acylinder and allow complete flow of a fluid medium. There is an an-=.

buff bodies on the back side of the can as a result "of which-there areareas which may not be affected by the I solution.

FIG. 6- diagrammatically illustrates the condition where a can or thelike is carried 'on a point contact type carrier. The spray heads arehereillus trated on opposing sides of the can and again there will befound a low-pressure wakeon each side of the can'body and those areasthen may not comein direct contact with the fluid.

With the problems outlined in connection with FIGS. 1 to 6 in mind, FIG.7 illustrates diagrammatically the novel approach of the presentinvention which will permit the achievement of the desired results. Inthis plan view, the can 10 is contained within a moving carrier 1 1. Themoving carrier moves the can past a spray head 12. It will be observedthat the carrier 1 1 has clearance around the can body and a rear fluidexit at 13. In this situation the spray from the nozzle 12 provides apattern of fluid flow around both sides of the can which will maintainthe can in a balanced condition centrally of the carrier 11 and permitthe movement of the atomized fluid to flow around the can and out theport 13 as indicated by the arrows. In'order to improve the exhaustcondition, a chamber 14 is provided which is maintained at a negativepressure. This negative pressure in the chamber. 14 overcomes thepressure and velocity drop of the fluid stream and carries the atmoizedmaterials away to prevent their entrapment behind the can. Entrapment ofthese materials behind the can might stop any flow around the balancedcan condition.

FIG. 8 diagrammatically shows an elevational view of the spray heads 12and 12a to the carrier 11 and the can 10 being transported thereby. Thespray head 12a is directed upwardly toward the open bottom of the can soas to treat the inside thereof by spraying upwardly into the interior.The spray from the nozzle 12a offsets the container weight and lifts thecan away from the bottom of the carrier until the top and forward edgeof the can come in contact with a rail 15. As the can 10 is raised fromthe carrier into abutment with the rail 15 again be a rinse cycle andthe secondhalf a drying or curing cycle.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, the cable 16 is shown as passing through atube 17. A carrier is shown at 11 with a can shown in broken lines at10. The portion of the housing or tube 17 generally indicated at 20 isthe treating chamberand the portion indicated generally at 21 is theexhaust chamber. Treatment fluid is fed to the nozzles 12 and 12athrough a conduit '22 and as described above the inside and outside ofthe cans are completely treated by the fluid which then passes outthrough the port 13 into the exhaust chamber 21 which is preferablymaintained at negative pressure. The exhaust chamber 21 is in effect anexhaust manifold and discharges into the conduit 22. As best seen inFIG. 12, the cans initially rest on the ledges 11a of the carrier. Theyare initially kept from falling out of the carrier 1 1 by the pointcontact member 24. The spray from the and with the carrier moving alongthe rail, the can is v caused to rotate. The contact with the can isminimal,

being substantially point contact, and light in pressure, and the can issubjected inside and outside overall its surfaces to the action of thesprays 12 and 12a.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the general arrangement of a can treating apparatusaccording to the invention. The arrangement is preferably spiral in thesense that in the preferred embodiment the spiral comprises thelongitudinal flights connected by transverse flights all at an angle tothe horizontal. The spiral path is defined by a cable 16 which travelswithin a housing 17 with the cable passing at each comer of the devicearound a series of pulleys, all indicated generally at 18.- The cablereturns as indicated by the broken line 16a 'in FIG. 9. The cans 10 arefed into the carriers by any suitable can feeding mechanism (not shown)and enter the bottom of the conveyor as indicated by the cans 10a inFIG. 9. At the top of the conveyor the cans 10 are discharged forfurther processing and the endless cable returns as indicated by theline 16a to the bottom flight. A suitable drive for the pulley system isprovided as indicated at 19.

It will be understood thatthe spray heads or nozzles disposed within thecasing 17 may be used for projecting any desired fluid such as adetergent solution, rinse water, acidtreating solution, protectivecoating, or hot air for drying or curing. Preferably the first completeturn of the spiral will be a wash cycle in which a washvolution will bea rinse cycle where rinse water is sprayed, the second half of thesecond spiral will preferably be an acid treatment cycle wherein an acidis sprayed, and in the final convolution the first half may ing mediumis sprayed, the first half of the second connozzles 12a lift the cans upagainst the rail 25 which engages the top and the front edge. of the canat'25a and 25b. It will be clear that since the can has been lifted offthe ledges 1 1a and as the cable 16 is moving the carrier through thechamber 17, the top of the can and the front edge of the can being incontact with the rail 25, the can will be caused to rotate as it isbeing translated so that all surfaces of the can, both inside and outare completely and thoroughly treated.

It will be clear that numerous modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and that no limitation notexpressly set forth in the claims is intended or should be implied.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu- 1 sive property orprivilege isclaimed are defined as follows:

1. A can treating apparatus comprising a tube, an endless cable arrangedto travel through said tube, a plurality of can carriers fixed to saidcable to be transported through said tube thereby, the portion of saidtube on the carrier side of said cable constituting a spray chamber; afirst series of nozzles arranged to spray a fluid against the outside ofthe. walls of cans being transported by said carrier, a seond series ofnozzles arranged to spray a fluid upwardly into the insides of saidcans; the portion of said tube on the other side of said cableconstituting an exhaust manifold for said fluid; said carriers being inthe form of half cylinders of a diameter providing a clearance aroundthe outside of the cans being treated, and having an exhaust portsubstantially centrally thereof, communicating with said exhaustmanifold; whereby flow of fluid around both sides of each can causes thecan to be centered in said carrier, and said flow is free of bufi'bodies and vortices, resulting in complete and uniform treatment of theentire surface of each can.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, including means for maintaining anegative pressure in said exhaust manifold to enhance the flow of fluidaround the can body.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a negative pressure ismaintained in said exhaust manifold, to enhance the flow of fluid aroundthe can bodies by overcoming the pressure and velocity drop of the fluidas it passes around the can bodies and preventing entrapment of atomizedfluid particles behind the can bodies.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rail is secured on theinside of said spray chamber at an elevation above the tops of the cansseated on said carriers, and adapted to contact the tops, and forwardedges of the tops, of the cans when they are lifted off said carriers bythe action of the spray from the said second series of nozzles, whereby,as said cans are transported through said spray chamber, they are causedto rotate,

7. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said spirally arranged tubemakes about two and one-half turns, the nozzles in about the first turnbeing arranged to spray a washing medium, the nozzles in about onehalfof the second turn being arranged to spray rinse water, the nozzles inabout the second half of the second turn being arranged to spray atreatment fluid, the nozzles in the first part of the last half turnbeing arranged to spray rinse water, and the nozzles in the final partof the last half turn being arranged to spray hot air.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said treatment fluid is aprotective coating, and the final part of the spiral constitutes acuring area.

1. A can treating apparatus comprising a tube, an endless cable arrangedto travel through said tube, a plurality of can carriers fixed to saidcable to be transported through said tube thereby, the portion of saidtube on the carrier side of said cable constituting a spray chamber; afirst series of nozzles arranged to spray a fluid against the outside ofthe walls of cans being transported by said carrier, a seond series ofnozzles arranged to spray a fluid upwardly into the insides of saidcans; the portion of said tube on the other side of said cableconstituting an exhaust manifold for said fluid; said carriers being inthe form of half cylinders of a diameter providing a clearance aroundthe outside of the cans being treated, and having an exhaust portsubstantially centrally thereof, communicating with said exhaustmanifold; whereby flow of fluid around both sides of each can causes thecan to be centered in said carrier, and said flow is free of buff bodiesand vortices, resulting in complete and uniform treatment of the entiresurface of each can.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, including meansfor maintaining a negative pressure in said exhaust manifold to enhancethe flow of fluid around the can body.
 3. Apparatus according to claim1, wherein a negative pressure is maintained in said exhaust manifold,to enhance the flow of fluid around the can bodies by overcoming thepressure and velocity drop of the fluid as it passes around the canbodies and preventing entrapment of atomized fluid particles behind thecan bodies.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rail is securedon the inside of said spray chamber at an elevation above the tops ofthe cans seated on said carriers, and adapted to contact the tops, andforward edges of the tops, of the cans when they are lifted off saidcarriers by the action of the spray from the said second series ofnozzles, whereby, as said cans are transported through said spraychamber, they are caused to rotate, exposing the entire surface of eachcan to the action of said fluid.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said tube is spirally arranged.
 6. Apparatus according to claim5, wherein said spirally arranged tube is constituted by a series ofstraight flights connected by curved portions, so as to provide arectangular configuration as viewed in plan.
 7. Apparatus according toclaim 5, wherein said spirally arranged tube makes about two andone-half turns, the nozzles in about the first turn being arrangEd tospray a washing medium, the nozzles in about one-half of the second turnbeing arranged to spray rinse water, the nozzles in about the secondhalf of the second turn being arranged to spray a treatment fluid, thenozzles in the first part of the last half turn being arranged to sprayrinse water, and the nozzles in the final part of the last half turnbeing arranged to spray hot air.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7,wherein said treatment fluid is a protective coating, and the final partof the spiral constitutes a curing area.